Apple shares tiptoe way back to key $100 level

Suffering Apple investors got a bit of a break Tuesday as the stock battles to get back above $100 a share for the first time in weeks and stay there.

Shares of Apple closed above $100 a share Tuesday — a key level it hasn’t closed above since Jan. 22. The stock closed up $3.84, or 4%, to $100.53 a share Tuesday.

The market’s broad rally has included Apple and has pushed the stock up nearly 8% since it hit a low this year of $93.42 on Jan. 27. That slightly outpaces the 5.1% bounce-back by the broad Standard & Poor’s 500 index during the same time.

But it’s far too early to pronounce Apple’s pain is over. Ap- ple stock — one of the darlings of Wall Street for years — has lost its mojo, and the growth of its smartphones has tapered off.

Meanwhile, many of the company’s latest offerings have failed to reach enough popularity to make up for falling growth and maturity of smartphones.

Shares of Apple are down 5.1% this year and have dropped a crushing 25% from its highest point of more than $134 a share — putting it squarely in the grip of a bear market, still.

The company also is embarking on a high-stakes battle with the Federal Government over a request to assist with the investigation of a terrorist’s smartphone.

Investors are trying to gauge whether the company’s dimming growth has been adequately reflected in the stock price. Apple’s adjusted earnings per share is expected to drop 1.3% in fiscal 2016, quite a letdown if you consider adjusted profit rose 43% in fiscal 2015.

Analysts have aggressively cut profit targets on the company — and have been wise to do so. But the average analyst thinks Apple should be worth $134 a share in 18 months, which if correct, would be 34% potential upside.